Check Yes Juliet
by Crazed Individual
Summary: Rukia's new school year as a Junior has just begun. It's going pretty well, minus that idiotic group of Seniors, including the ever-popular brat Ichigo Kurosaki. Just when she thinks things are going fine, she meets someone... through her desk. Ichiruki
1. Check Yes Juliet

**Hey guys! Guess what?! I'm not dead! LOL**  
**Uggggh, I know it's been **_**very**_** long since I last posted... (Sorry to PoaR readers...I totally lost motivation to finish it because my laptop was wiped out... but I promise I'll get around to updating it eventually.)**  
**So here I am again, with a new story. Thought of this one during English class. I was listening to my iPod during our work period and Check Yes Juliet by We The Kings was playing, while I was writing something to my desk buddy.**  
**Seriously, that's how I thought of this. XD I actually have a desk buddy. We write random notes back and forth on the desk every day, since he has English after I do. It's hysterical XD So yeah, this story was born!**  
_Disclaimer:__ I own nothing. Dx  
__Summary:__ Rukia's new school year as a Junior has just begun. It's going pretty well, minus that idiotic group of Seniors, including the ever-popular brat Ichigo Kurosaki. Just when she thinks things are going fine, she meets someone... through her desk. [Ichiruki] Possible side pairings later._  
**Now, I'll stop this rambling and get onto the story!**

**_________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"_Rukia..." the strawberry-blonde man whispered, lightly stroking the brunette's lips with his thumb._

_Rukia looked up at him. His face was completely covered by darkness. His entire body was too, minus his vibrant hair. _

_The redhead slowly brought his face to level with Rukia's. His face slowly inched towards hers, their heads tilting and their eyes closing, and just as they were about to kiss..._

"RU-KI-AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

"Waah!" Rukia exclaimed, shooting up in her bed, eyes wide. She stared blankly for a few moments, heart pounding, before quickly shaking her head and attempting to flatten her very-messy hair.

"RUKIA!!!!!" The loud voice called once again. It was coming from outside. Rukia slipped out of bed and rushed towards her window, opening it.

"Renji!" she growled, staring down at her best friend of ten years, who was looking up at her from her front lawn, grinning sheepishly.

"Morning sunshine!" He smiled brightly. Rukia glared at him.

"You scared the crap out of me, dumbass! Don't ever do that again!" She shouted.

"So you wanna be late?" Renji scoffed and Rukia blinked, turning around to look at her alarm clock. Her eyes widened. It was already 7:40!

"Shit!" She screamed. She rushed towards her closet. "Why didn't you wake me up Renji?! You asshole!" She began rummaging through her closet savagely, looking for her uniform. Renji rolled his eyes.

Rukia quickly put on her school uniform, running a comb through her hair quickly and grabbing her bag. She rushed downstairs and noticed her older brother, Byakuya, who was sitting at the kitchen table.

"Bye, Nii-sama!" She said quickly, slipping her shoes on. Her brother looked up from his newspaper.

"You're not going to eat breakfast?" He asked.

"I don't have time, I'll eat with you tomorrow, promise." Rukia said quickly, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before rushing out the front door. "Good luck at work!"

Byakuya blinked, staring at the spot where his younger sister had been standing moments before, before sighing and continuing to read the paper.

"Took ya long enough," Renji commented as Rukia rushed out her front door. She glared at him.

"It's not my fault! I was ... sleepy." Rukia shrugged, thinking of her dream. Renji rolled his eyes and they began the walk to school.

"So are you excited?" Renji asked once they were halfway there and able to see the school slightly. Rukia shook her head.

"Not really...it's going to be the same as last year." She sighed. "Dull and uneventful."

"Hmm..." Renji said thoughtfully, and they walked in silence for the rest of the way.

Rukia's mind once again began to wander to her dream... who was that man? He'd been in her dreams all summer, but today was the first time he'd been more than just a full shadow.

_'Bright orange hair, though? Seriously? What's wrong with my mind?' _She thought oddly.

"H-hey, Rukia--!" Renji quickly tried to get Rukia's attention, but it was too late. The next thing the brunette knew, she was on the ground, her knee throbbing.

"Ow!" She hissed, looking at her scraped knee. It was bleeding slightly. Renji groaned.

"What the fuck!?" Someone shouted. Rukia looked up to see a bright-haired teen on the ground across from her. She looked down again, and then did a double take. Bright _orange_ hair.

The bright-haired teen was examining his elbow, which was also scraped. He looked at Rukia and glared. "Great job, idiot." He growled, getting back on his feet. "Watch where you're going."

Rukia felt her blood boil. She jumped up and clenched her fists. "_You_ watch where _you're_ going, dumbass!"

"What'd you say!?" He growled. He moved towards Rukia, but his friends who were behind him quickly grabbed his shoulders.

"C'mon, Ichigo. Let's just go." One teen with black hair and glasses said. "It was an accident. I'll sew your sleeve back later."

"But Ishida, she -" Ichigo was cut off.

"Ishida is right," his other, very tall, friend said.

"But Chad... ugh, whatever. Fine." Ichigo said, giving Rukia one last glare before turning around on his heel and walking away with his friends. Rukia glared daggers into his back.

"Who the hell is that?" She grumbled, continuing to walk towards the school entrance with Renji. Renji blinked.

"You don't know him? Thats Kurosaki Ichigo. He's only the most popular guy in the school." He laughed. Rukia blinked.

"He's a jackass." She huffed. Renji laughed lightly, patting her on the back.

"How's your knee?"

"It's alright. I'm gonna kill him..." Rukia continued to mumble to herself angrily as she stormed into the school. That berry-head had some nerve! Wait... berry-head? Rukia stopped in her tracks. He had the exact same hair as the man in her dream!

"Ugh, no way." She said, disgusted. There was no way the two were related somehow.

"Rukia are you alright..." Renji asked uneasily, glancing down at his best friend. Rukia shook her head and nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She was about to continue, until the bell signalled that school had begun. "I'll see you at lunch, Renji." She gave her friend a quick hug and headed for her locker.

-----

"So through this semester, we will be reading..." the English teacher droned on. Rukia felt her eyelids becoming heavy. _'No...'_ she told herself, _'I'm not gonna sleep..._'  
To keep herself occupied, she quickly pulled out her pencil and began to doodle on her desk. She drew a few Chappy rabbits, and some silly smile faces to amuse herself. She continued to doodle small pictures in the bottom corner of her desk, until the bell signalled the end of period one and everyone quickly jumped out of their seats, heading for the door.

Rukia sighed in relief and quickly packed her things, exiting the classroom, not having erased her silly drawings.

The rest of the day went by fairly quickly. Rukia was just glad to be heading home.

Once she said goodbye to Renji, she entered her house and quickly got to work on her homework. She had quite a lot of English to do since she spent the whole period doodling.

Many papers and complicated Math equations later, she was called down to dinner by her brother.

"How is school so far?" Byakuya asked once they were both sitting at the table. Rukia shrugged, stabbing her chicken, imagining it was a certain berry-head.

"It's alright." She ripped the chicken in half savagely. Byakuya noticed and blinked.

"Has anyone...angered you?" He asked hesitantly. Rukia looked up at him and smiled lightly.

"It's fine, Nii-sama. Just some idiots, it can't be avoided."

"Ah, I see... do not let anyone take advantage of you, do you hear me Rukia? And please, do not get yourself into any trouble." Byakuya said sternly. Rukia nodded, smiling.

"Don't worry, that's not going to happen." She assured her brother, who relaxed and nodded.

"And no boyfriends." He added quickly, almost too quiet for Rukia to hear. Unfortunately, she heard him.

"Nii-sama!"

---------

"Alright, hand in your work from yesterday to me as I walk down your row..." Rukia's English teacher told them in her dull voice, holding her hand out to the students as she began to walk. One by one, students began to hand in their assignments. Once she stepped in front of Rukia, the brunette quickly handed in her paper, but the teacher didn't continue down the row. She gave Rukia a stern frown.

"Ms. Kuchiki, it's only the second day of school and you're already vandalizing your desk?" She sighed. "Erase those. Now." Rukia glanced down at the desk and noticed her doodles from yesterday and nodded quickly, pulling out her eraser as the teacher continued down the row once again.

She quickly began to erase her drawings, until she noticed something. Underneath her Chappy drawings, there was writing. Someone had written under her drawings in neat, elegant printing.

_Nice drawings. How old are you, six?_

Rukia frowned confusedly. How dare they? Her drawings were great! She quickly erased everything and wrote in her messy handwriting,

**No, ass. Who the hell are you, critisizing my masterpieces? You're probably just jealous!**

She smirked and quickly placed her books on top of the note, so the teacher wouldn't scold her again for writing on the desks, and continued to listen to what the teacher was saying about their upcoming quiz.

After an hour, the bell rang, ending the period and once again everyone rushed out of the room as fast as they could. Rukia quickly got up and headed out the door to her next class, and not many moments later, the next class came heading in. Ichigo was amongst the second period students.

"Come on, come on, get to your seats." The teacher said, clapping her hands. Ichigo quickly sat in his seat, placing his books and bag down and leaning back. He glanced down at the corner of the desk and noticed something. He smiled widely. Whoever had drawn those rabbits had wrote back to him. He read her (he knew it was a girl... who else would draw Chappy for God's sake? Not a man, that's for sure.) messy note, and quickly replied.

_Oh yes, I'm so jealous of your hideous...I don't even know what they are. Alligators? And who am I? It's a secret._

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**Whee! There we go! What do you guys think? I know it's really badly written, but I promise it'll improve as the chapters continue. It's really rushed and choppy because I just wanted to get this out of the way, but I'll work harder on future chapters.**

**And just to let you guys know, whenever Ichigo writes a note, it will be in regular italics, to show sorta elegance, you know what I mean? And Rukia's will be simply bold, to show a sort of sloppy look. Just to make some difference ;D **

**I really hope you guys lked this! Reviews would be great! Thanks so much!**  
**Haha by the way, who watched Saw V? I just watched it last night and it was awesome! Woot!**

_(edited chapters 1 and 2 on 02-12-09)_


	2. Are You With Me?

**Here's the second chapter! :D Thanks so much for all of the reviews, guys! I wasn't expecting so many just for the first chapter. That makes me happy that you guys like this story so far! Sorry about the errors in the first chapter, with there being no line breaks or anything between different scenes... I had line breaks, but I guess FFNet screwed it up... I tried editing the chapter over and over, trying to make them show up but I don't think it'll work... So from now on I'm just gonna use ----s or something... Sorry about that! :(  
As for there being other characters, of course! Haha I have planned for them to show up later, Orihime the most, I think. If anyone would like to see a certain character appear, let me know! :D I'll try my best to add them in, if I already haven't thought of doing so.**

**Enough of my talking! Here we go!**

**----------------------------------------------------------------------**

"So what do you think of school so far?" Renji asked, glancing down to his right at Rukia, licking his ice cream slowly as they walked through the bustling mall. Rukia also licked her own ice cream, shrugging.

"It's alright... homework sucks, obviously. But I think I made a friend..."

Renji raised his eyebrows. "Really? Who is she?"

"Actually, it's a he," Rukia laughed. Renji frowned and felt a tinge of jealously.

"Oh?"

"Relax, Renji," Rukia scoffed. "He's not mean."

'_That's not what I'm worried about_.' Renji thought bitterly. "What's his name?"

"...Actually, I'm not sure." Rukia winced and Renji looked at her oddly. "Ah...'cause like, I kinda met him... through my desk?"

Renji looked at her like she had another eye growing out of her forehead. Rukia sighed heavily. "I've never met him!" She exclaimed. "We just write notes to each other! Through a desk..." She blinked. "He's in period 2 English, while I have period 1...so..."

"I think I get it," Renji said, still confused. "So you write notes on your desk...and he writes back?"

"Pretty much," Rukia laughed. "We haven't told each other our names or anything... we just ... I don't know, talk? It's fun..." She shrugged, throwing her half-eaten ice cream into a garbage bin. "He's kind of bratty, but he's still nice." She looked ahead and her eyes narrowed. "Speaking of _bratty_..." She glared at a certain orange-haired teen walking with a group of people a few feet in front of them. Ichigo chuckled at something his friend told him, and then glanced up to see Rukia glaring at him. He smirked and raised his eyebrows, attempting to provoke Rukia.

Rukia noticed his cocky attitude and glared, her hands clenching into fists. Renji sighed.

"Rukia, calm down," he said. "You get into enough arguments with him at _school_, don't do it on the weekend too."

Rukia huffed. "Fine."

"Now c'mon, let's go watch a movie or something, I hear there's a new Chappy movie out..."

"Really?!" Rukia shrieked. "What the hell are we waiting for then, Renji?! Get your ass movin'!" She quickly grabbed his wrist and happily dragged him towards the mall cinema, thoughts of Ichigo being erased from her mind completely.

_**~*~**_

Rukia was about two weeks through school, though it seemed like ages already. It was so dull and the only thing keeping her from going insane was the desk notes with her secret friend. Reading his messages on the desk every day was the only thing she really looked forward to about school. Of course she enjoyed seeing Renji every day, but that was obvious. She could already feel herself becoming attached to this person, who she didn't even know. Rukia was always thinking about him during the day, wondering what he looked like, what he sounded like... everything.

They knew the basics about each other. Her desk friend knew she was quite short, a junior, liked Chappy and drawing, and was quite skilled at martial arts. She knew that her desk friend was tall, liked Shakespeare and working out, and was a _senior_. Whenever Rukia felt herself thinking about him, she would blush, because there was really no negative way to picture someone who liked to work out _and_ read Shakespeare. Not to mention he was older...

Of course, he could be lying to her, but to her it seemed highly doubtful. He didn't seem like a lying type... then again, how could she judge him so well based off of what he writes on a _desk_?

Rukia sighed. It was all too confusing. '_Better not think about it too much...'_ she thought. The less she thought about it, the better.

_**~*~**_

_The teacher looks like a toad. Her eyes creep the hell out of me._

**Don't be so mean! She's just... old?**

_You're too nice. So what are you guys doing in your class?_

**Am not. I just don't say rude things about people...unless they really deserve it.  
Ugh, we're reading short stories and observing them or some crap like that.**

_You don't think giving shitloads of homework is deserving it? :)  
I wanna see you one day._

Rukia's heart skipped a beat at this message. He wanted to see her? No way... what if he was so disappointed in who she really turned out to be? Judging by how he talked to her, he probably thought she was some special, good looking girl, or something. Which she definitely was _not_. (In her own eyes, at least.)

**Meh. Some people deserve it more, like this one bastard I know... God, I can't stand him.**  
**Why would you want to? I'm not all that great, believe me. I want to see ****you****.**

Ichigo felt his cheeks go a little pink. His desk friend wanted to see him? She'd never talk to him again, if she did. He wasn't a very good person... and this girl seemed way too good to be true. She was everything he looked for in a girl, a good sense of humour, not too prissy, everything was just perfect. He'd never be a good enough person for her. Even though others thought he was the 'coolest guy in school', he just didn't see himself as very much.

_Want me to kick his ass?  
I just want to. You __are__ great. Well, I think so. I'm the one that's not so great. You can trust me on that. I doubt your reaction would be positive if you knew who I was. _

Rukia blushed, chuckled lightly, imagining her desk friend kicking Ichigo's ass. She quickly doodled a picture of a cute rabbit (her desk friend) standing on a cartoony world, kicking an ugly, spiky haired rabbit (Ichigo) off of the world. She quickly scribbled a message under it.

**I wish. :P  
You can't be a bad person... you like ****Shakespeare****! But you know what...maybe we should just... hold off for a while... get to know each other a bit better, I suppose.**

_I guess that's a good idea... yeah, I'd like that much better.  
(Nice drawing...Must be an ugly guy.)_

**Alright :) I'm kinda excited, haha...  
He's actually not ugly at all... far from it. But his personality is so ugly that it makes ****him**** ugly.**

_Me too...  
He must be such a bastard, then. I hate people like that._

Though Ichigo _did_ hate rude people, he couldn't help but think of himself being like the person his desk friend hated so much. He wasn't a completely horrible person, but he felt a bit bad about himself, hoping he didn't have someone talking about _him_ like that...

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**bahaha XD Sorry this chapter's so short...hopefully as I progress along the chapters will get longer...So how'd you guys like this chapter? I hope it wasn't too confusing this time like before...Did you guys like how this chapter was written? Or was it irritating? Opinions! So I can change what people dislike :)  
Thanks for reading! Please review! :3**


	3. Rain Is Falling Down On The Sidewalk

**Hey, guys! I'm so sorry I haven't updated this story in so long. I've been swamped with work and writer's block. I forced myself to write, though! I figured I couldn't leave you guys hanging for so long, haha. I wish I could've made this chapter Valentine's-ish, but it would screw up the story timeline. So I suppose it's just another random chapter! **

* * *

_So what do you look like?_

**Why do you want to know!? I dunno, I'm short? You?**

_Wow… I don't know either. I have brown eyes?_

**Wow, that helps.**

_Look who's talking. _

**Shut up! Well, what's your favourite color? Mine's green.**

_Wow, you're creative. I don't know, brown?_

**Brown? Nice. We'd make an ugly shirt.**

_What the hell??_

**An ugly shirt. Green and brown…? Our favourite colors put together would make an ugly shirt! A striped one or something.**

Ichigo let out a laugh once he realized what his desk buddy was talking about. He'd never heard that before, someone matching up favourite colors for a shirt.

"Do you have something to share with the class, Mr. Kurosaki?" Ichigo looked up to see his teacher looking down at him expectantly. Ichigo's hand quickly slid across his desk, covering the notes.

"N-no," Ichigo said quickly. "I was just… thinking of a funny show."

The teacher raised an eyebrow. "Now is not the time to think about television. Flip to page 230 of the novel and start reading."

Ichigo nodded and grabbed his novel, flipping to the 230th page. He began to skim through it, not taking any of it in, but thinking of his desk buddy. He wanted to meet her so badly… who could she be?

* * *

"Renji!" Rukia groaned, stretching her arms above her head. She straightened out her karate uniform, walking back into the building. "I'm exhausted. Why do we have to practice at lunch time? I already go after school!"

Renji smiled, walking in behind her. "You know why. Your brother told me to help you practice your self defence skills."

"I don't understand why!" Rukia said, irritated. "It's useless. Anyway, I'll see you after school." Rukia waved to Renji as they parted ways, Renji going to another hall while Rukia went upstairs. The brunette sighed, stretching her back, exhausted from hard exercise.

"What a paranoid freak," she huffed, thinking of her brother's wishes as she headed up the stairs towards her locker to grab her uniform and change before classes resumed. "I mean really, what are the chances of me being alone and getting – _oomph_!" Rukia shrieked as she turned the corner and slammed into a hard object. She was thrown backwards onto her behind. She shut her eyes tightly, hissing in pain.

"What the hell!?" Someone growled and Rukia looked up to see that it had not been an object she had crashed into, but a person. Kurosaki Ichigo to be specific. He was also on the ground, rubbing his elbow, scowling. He saw that it was Rukia who knocked him over and sighed annoyedly. "Don't you know how to walk?" He mumbled, standing up, making no move to help Rukia up.

"Shut up!" Rukia yelled. "It's not my fault! _You_ don't know how to walk!" She stood up and straightened out her clothes. Ichigo blinked.

"You do karate?" He asked curiously. Rukia raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you care," she mumbled, glancing down at the floor. She blinked, noticing a book. Ichigo must have dropped it when they fell. She bent over and picked it up, glancing at the cover. "Hamlet? You read Shakespeare?"

"Why do you care?" Ichigo retorted, snatching the book from Rukia's grasp. He shoved past her and continued walking down the hallway. Rukia glared at his retreating form, then shook her head and sighed.

"That kid is weird." She mumbled, heading for her locker. "He'd be pretty good looking if he knew how to smile."

* * *

**Don't you hate when people always look angry?**

_Where did that come from? Not really... why?_

**I dunno. There's this guy who always looks like he wants to punch everyone in the face. It just pisses me off. Like, why can't they just smile for once?**

_No idea. Yeah, I can see how people like that could piss you off._

**You better smile if we ever meet. If you don't, I'll be pissed and slap a smile onto your face if I have to.**

_Oh, I'm so scared._

**Damn right you are!**

Ichigo chuckled, shaking his head. His desk buddy was crazy. At least he didn't have to worry about not being able to smile if he ever met her; he always smiled whenever he thought of her. Usually he was one of those constantly-scowling people, but whenever his desk buddy crossed his mind, he immediately became happy.

_Well you're gonna have to earn a smile from me. I don't grace people with my smile often._

**Probably because it's hideous.**

_THANKS. I have a great smile, for your information._

Rukia sighed, trying to imagine her desk buddy smiling. She had no face to put with the smile, but she imagined it _was_ a great smile. She wished she could see him.

**When would we ever meet?**

_I dunno. How about soon? Tomorrow, at the dance?_

_

* * *

  
_

**That's it! I hope you guys enjoyed it. I would love to hear what you all think of this chapter! This is a short and crappy chapter, but I just wanted to post SOMETHING so you guys know I'm not giving up on this story... it'll get good eventually! I swear!  
Also, I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's day with someone special (even if it's just a good friend!!). Speaking of, my birthday is also on valentine's day! Which is technically right now. I'm so pumped! Woo-hoo! Have a great day, guys! Please review!!**


	4. I Won't Go Until You Come Outside

* * *

**I'm gonna try and keep this short so all I wanna say is – thanks for all of the reviews, everyone! It makes me happier than you could ever imagine! And I'm so sorry for not updating sooner! THANKS!!  
edit: I'm sorry! FFNet keeps screwing things up with this chapter... so if anything looks funny, I apologize! Especially if you get tons of emails, like I am...**

**

* * *

  
**

"Shit!" Renji gasped as he and Rukia rushed through the school doors. Rain poured violently on the ground outside. Rukia quickly slammed the door shut and groaned, leaning against it.

"I'm soaking wet..." She sighed, looking down at her clothes. "And my hair is ruined!" She groaned, bringing a hand to her dripping hair. She had finally managed to make her hair cooperate and look somewhat decent, and now it was ruined.

It was the night of the dance, and Rukia was beyond nervous. It was the night she would finally meet her desk friend. He had scribbled a meeting place onto her desk. _'The front entrance at 7:30.' _Rukia thought, glancing down at her cell phone's clock. It was 7:05. She still had some time to fix herself up... if that was even _possible_.

"I think I've got some dry clothes in my locker." Renji's voice broke Rukia's thoughts. The brunette looked up at her redheaded friend. "Do you want them?" He offered. Rukia smiled.

"Nah, it's okay, Renji. You go ahead and use them, they're yours... I'll just find something in my locker... and if not I can just wait until my clothes dry." Rukia sighed, looking down at her attire. Her shirt and pants were so wet they clung to her like a second skin. Damn rain.

"You sure?" Renji asked doubtfully. Rukia nodded, grinning.

"Yeah! I'll meet you at your locker in a bit, okay? I'm just going to head up to mine and see if I have anything useful." Renji nodded and Rukia waved goodbye, heading for the stairwell to the upper hall wings. Renji turned around and headed for his locker wing, which was on the ground floor.

"How will I ever be able to meet him, looking like _this_?" Rukia sighed, looking at her clothes angrily as she headed up the stairs. "It doesn't even _look_ nice any more. These were my best jeans...What a waste of money." She knew she was way too caught up in trying to impress her desk friend, but hey, she _was_ a Kuchiki. They were all about appearance.

"I wonder what Nii-sama would say about this friend of mine..." Rukia sighed heavily. Her brother would throw a fit if he knew Rukia was meeting someone she talked to through a _desk._ Rukia giggled at the thought of her brother's reaction.

She sighed as she turned the corner of the stairwell and walked down the hall to her locker wing. Along the way she wrung her hair out, attempting to dry herself - even if only a little bit. Once she headed down her locker wing, a voice came onto the speaker system.

"Excuse me students," it was her prinicpal. "I am aware there is a social event going on in the gym, but I must announce that we will be having a lockdown light. Anyone currently in the gym must _stay_ in the gym, and teachers must lock the gym doors. Any students in the hallways must head into open classrooms with a teacher and wait until I announce that the lockdown is over. I apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you." and his voice clicked off. Rukia's eyes widened.

"Someone caused a lockdown?" She whispered. She glanced down at her cell phone time and groaned. "I'm supposed to meet him in fifteen minutes!" She hit her forehead, cursing her bad luck.

"Hey, you, Kuchiki!" Rukia looked up to see her Math teacher poking his head out of his classroom door. "Get in here! You shouldn't be in the halls!"

Rukia sighed. "Y-yes sir!" She quickly walked towards the classroom and entered it. Her teacher shut the door and locked it, putting a piece of construction paper over the door window, as all teachers were instructed to do during lockdowns.

"What happened to _you_?" Rukia whirled around to face the source of the voice. Her eyes widened as she saw a familliar, tall boy sitting on top of one of the many desks. He was the only student aside from her in the room.

"No...way." Rukia whispered. Ichigo smirked. "I'm stuck in here with _you_!?" Rukia shrieked, pointing at him accusingly.

"Don't seem so excited," Ichigo said sarcastically, stretching his arms behind his back. Rukia growled and turned around to face her teacher.

"Can I wait in a different classroom?" Rukia demanded. The teacher blinked.

"No you can't, Kuchiki. It's a lockdown. Although it's only an intruder who seems pretty harmless, we are _not_ allowed to let anyone leave until the principal says so." He told her. Rukia sighed and turned around, sitting in a desk _very_ far from Ichigo. The teacher walked back to his desk and sat down, shuffling through papers.

Ichigo watched Rukia curiously as she played with her cell phone, flipping it open and closed angrily. Ichigo blinked. "You'll break your phone, you know." he said.

"Shut up." Rukia grumbled. "Don't talk to me."

"Aw, why not?" Ichigo grinned. He got off the desk he was sitting on and moved to the one in front of Rukia, sitting on the top and facing her. Rukia glared at him.

"Stay _away_ from me." She hissed. Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"You're way too angry." He commented. Rukia shut her eyes, trying to calm herself down so she didn't punch the living daylights out of the obnoxious berry-head.

"Why are you talking to me?" Rukia asked, opening her eyes and looking at Ichigo. "We hate each other. You make fun of me."

"Yeah, but I don't feel like making fun of you today," he winked. "I'm in a good mood."

"Why, you got a date for the first time in your life?" Rukia retorted. Ichigo grinned.

"Actually, I did. I know you're jealous."

"Hah!" Rukia scoffed. "I'm not jealous at all! In fact, I have my _own_ date... well, _had_." She mumbled the last part, averting her eyes. Ichigo blinked.

"He dump you?"

"No!" Rukia said sharply, glaring at Ichigo. "I was supposed to meet him, but this stupid _lockdown_ had to happen."

"I know how you feel," Ichigo sighed, leaning back on the desk. "I was supposed to meet my date too." He looked up at the ceiling, then looked back at the scowling brunette. "So who's the unlucky guy?"

"Shut up." Rukia growled. "I don't need to tell you anything."

"So you're lying." Ichigo grinned.

"I am not!" Rukia shrieked, slapping Ichigo's knee. Ichigo chuckled.

"So why won't you tell me who it is?"

"Because...!" Rukia started. She averted her eyes. "I don't know who it is." She mumbled.

Ichigo blinked. "You don't know...?"

"I mean," Rukia sighed. Why was she telling him this? "I haven't met him yet... in person. We were going to meet today." Ichigo's eyes slowly widened knowingly.

"Oh, fuck no." Ichigo gasped. Rukia turned red.

"It's not as weird as it sounds!" She yelled.

"7:30, right? In the main entrance." Ichigo said quietly. Rukia's eyes widened.

"How did you..." Rukia trailed off. Ichigo groaned and brought a hand to his face.

"I know because _I'm_ supposed to meet _my _date there." Ichigo looked at Rukia helplessly. Rukia gaped.

"No!" She shrieked, standing up and clenching her hands into tight fists. "You're lying!" She jabbed Ichigo in the chest roughly. Ichigo looked at her grimly.

"No, I'm not lying. I have English second period..." He looked at the ceiling and chuckled. "What are the odds..."

"I can't believe this!" Rukia shrieked, hiding her face in her hands, angry beyond belief. "And I actually thought you were someone _decent_...!"

"Hey!" Ichigo looked back at her sharply. "What's wrong with me?"

"K-Kurosaki...Kuchiki..." Their teacher muttered, raising his glasses. The two teens ignored him.

"So everything you said was a lie, wasn't it?" Rukia demanded, tears threatening to fall. Ichigo gaped.

"Wh-what!?" he exclaimed. "I didn't lie about anything! Why the hell would I lie?!"

"Because!" Rukia shrieked. "You made yourself seem so... so... amazing." She whispered, looking down as the tears dripped down her face. "I can't believe you would lie."

"Hey," Ichigo frowned. He brought a hand under Rukia's chin and lifted her head to look at him. Her eyes were teary, wide and sadness was evident. "I didn't lie. I swear to you, I didn't. Everything I said about myself was true."

Rukia just stared at him sniffing. "B-but... you're so... mean... and arrogant, and cocky! And you're so obnoxious!" She shrieked, shoving him away from her. Ichigo's back collided with the desk and their teacher stood up quickly. Before he could say anything, the speaker system beeped.

"This is your principal," it announced. "The lockdown is over. Thank you for your cooperation."

Rukia sighed in relief and gave Ichigo one last, teary glance before storming for the door, unlocking it and wrenching it open, leaving.

"What on Earth..." The math teacher blinked. Ichigo glanced at him, and then frowned, straightening himself and rushing out of the room, after Rukia.

"R-Rukia!" Ichigo yelled, running down the hall after the small brunette. She ignored him and turned the corner, rushing down the other hall.

"Leave me alone, you asshole!" Rukia yelled. Ichigo growled, speeding up until he was running side by side with Rukia. Rukia's eyes widened and she quickly turned right, opening a door and rushing in. She slammed it shut and Ichigo stopped in his tracks. He heard objects fall and metal hit the ground and Rukia shrieking. His eyes widened and he opened the door, only to see Rukia standing in the middle of a mess of cleaning products. A bucket had fallen onto her head.

Ichigo supressed a laugh, covering his mouth with a hand. He quickly rushed into the janitor's closet and pulled the bucket off of Rukia's head, laughing at her dumbfounded facial expression. "Did you think this was a classroom?" He asked her, laughing. Rukia looked up at him with wide eyes, and suddenly burst out crying. Ichigo's eyes widened. "H-hey! I was kidding!"

"Shut up!" Rukia cried, sliding down againt the shelves, so she was sitting on the floor. She brought her legs up to her chest and buried her face in her knees, crying. Ichigo swallowed, not knowing what to do. He had heard Rukia Kuchiki was _never_ the type to cry.

"Hey..." he said quietly, shoving brooms and buckets out of the way and kneeling beside her. He hesitated, then wrapped an arm around her. Rukia tensed up. Ichigo sighed. "I know you're upset... and I guess I'm sorry. I guess I should've told you who I was." Rukia stopped crying, but didn't look up.

She let out a sigh. "I should be sorry." Her voice was muffled. "You must feel terrible. I'm practically insulting you ... crying because I found out who you are." Ichigo chuckled.

"You're apologizing for insulting me?" He asked. "You insult me every day!"

Rukia let out a laugh, then hiccuped. Ichigo smiled. Rukia looked up at him, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I can't believe I'm crying over you... and I can't believe I'm saying_sorry _to you." She sighed.

"I can't believe I'm being _nice _to you." Ichigo scoffed. He then looked down at Rukia and smiled warmly. "You know, this seems like a shitload of bad luck to us... but maybe this is something good?"

"What do you mean?" Rukia asked. Ichigo shrugged, removing his hand from Rukia's back and sitting next to her on the ground, leaning his back against the shelves. He looked up. "We're not friends... so what are the chances of something like this happening? To us, of all people? So maybe.. this happened for a reason... because we _should_ be doing something together..."

"But we're completely opposite. We should never have anything to do with eachother. That's how high school works." Rukia mocked, rolling her eyes. Ichigo grinned.

"Exactly! Maybe we should be together, to prove everyone wrong!" Rukia raised an eyebrow when he said _together_.

"I-I don't mean like that." Ichigo sighed. "I'd never like someone like _you_."

"I'd never like someone like you, either!" Rukia growled, shoving him in the chest. Ichigo laughed.

"So what do you think?" Ichigo asked, sticking a hand out. "Friends?"

Rukia eyed his hand wearily, and then sighed. "Friends." she mumbled, shaking his hand. Ichigo grinned, grabbing her hand and lifting her up. Rukia shrieked as he pulled her out of the janitor's closet.

"Where are we going!?" She demanded as Ichigo dragged her down the hallway.

"To dance, of course." Ichigo chuckled. "That's what we were supposed to do, right?"

Rukia's eyes widened. "I am _not_ dancing with you!" She shrieked. Ichigo ignored her and the two ran down the stairs, Rukia's shrieks of protest floating up the stairwell. Once they reached the gym doors, Ichigo stopped and turned around to look at Rukia.

His cheeks turned pink as he finally noticed how tight Rukia's wet clothes were on her petite body. Rukia noticed his stare and her cheeks flamed and she tugged on her shirt, trying to loosen it away from her body. "Pervert." She muttered. Ichigo scoffed.

"Your hair looks weird." He said. He pulled out the hair tie and pins Rukia had put in it. Rukia gasped.

"I spent ages trying to style it!" She growled. Ichigo shrugged.

"It looks better curly and wet. It's cute." He grinned teasingly and Rukia's cheeks flamed again.

"You're an asshole." She muttered as he opened the gym doors. It was the middle of a slow song, so the squeaking of the doors was very audible. Many students in the gym, dancing or not, glanced towards the door and their eyes widened. What were Ichigo and Rukia doing together?

Ichigo noticed their surprised and curious glances, and grabbed Rukia's hand. Rukia's eyes widened and she looked up at him, but he was looking ahead, smiling. He guided Rukia into the gym and found an empty spot, and proceeded to wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her against him. Rukia's eyes widened, but she slowly slid her hands up to wrap them around his neck. They slowly began to move with the music, very aware of the whispers of their fellow classmates.

"What the hell are you doing?" Rukia whispered, looking up at Ichigo, who was grinning.

"Well, we are at a dance..." he started. Rukia stepped on his foot and he winced. "I dunno. This school needs something different."

"What do you _mean_, different?" Rukia sighed. Ichigo shrugged.

"Well... you're rich. I'm poor. That's different. I'm popular, you're not. How that works out anyway with the amount of money you have, I don't know. I guess people just like me better." he chuckled. Rukia glared at him, so he quickly continued. "Well... you know what I mean? People from different social rankings and groups never interact... so we should give it a shot. Besides, you're not all that bad like I thought."

"Whatever." Rukia mumbled, averting her eyes. Ichigo chuckled.

"Am I as bad as you thought?"

"..." Rukia stayed silent, then sighed. She closed her eyes and rested her head against Ichigo's strong chest. "No, I guess you're not."

"Well, let's give these people a show, then."

**

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**

**Wow!! That ended up being _way_ longer than I had expected! Haha it all just poured out! Crazy mind, I've got...I know they were so out of character it's ridiculous, and I apologize! It just came out that way... T.T  
**

**Anyway, I hope this was good! I suppose I do owe you guys a long chapter like this anyway... seeing as how the last one sucked massively. **

**Please review! I would appreciate it so much!! I love you all!**

**(I can't believe there's already 80 plus reviews on three chapters... You guys are absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!) I will try and update soon! I finally have everything planned out for this story, so I believe updates will come much quicker... especially when I finish my other story.  
Bye! Ily all!**


	5. Kill The Limbo

**Oh wow... I bet someone's ready to kill me right now!  
Heh... heh... I know I haven't updated ANY of my stories in ages. I've been swamped with school, and a lot of stress regarding friends and family and such... urgg... But I've kept you guys waiting too long, since it's the summer I promise I will keep you all updated! Although I did just get a job (WOOHOO!), I will do my best! I love you guys too much! I hope this chapter isn't too bad...**

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Rukia sighed deeply, climbing up the stairs of her house and down the hall to her bedroom. She opened the door and kicked off her shoes, sending them flying across the floor. She didn't bother to change out of her clothes, she immediately fell onto her bed and groaned, hiding her face in a pillow.

"I'm so tired..." she mumbled. She turned her head to the right, glancing at the alarm clock on her nightstand. It was 12 in the morning. That dance had lasted ages. Rukia rolled over on to her back, crossing her arms over her chest and staring up at her ceiling, recalling the events that had taken place tonight.

"I can't believe it was Kurosaki..." She whispered, thinking of when the two discovered they were each other's desk buddies. "What are the odds...?"

Needless to say, Rukia was not expecting Ichigo to be her mysterious friend. What she had heard about him did not fit the description of her desk buddy at all. Renji and the others had always said he was a player, shallow, an asshole, and a punk. They said he strung girls along, hated everyone but himself, and was always looking for trouble. Rukia's desk buddy described himself as easygoing, into Shakespeare and literature, and the way he talked made him seem like he had a good sense of humor.

"Maybe I shouldn't believe rumors..." Rukia murmured. "But dying his hair that color... he _must_ be a punk, at least. He wasn't acting too bad, though..."

In fact, he hadn't acted bad at all. Ichigo was a complete gentlemen, compared to other times they had run into each other. Usually, they were at each other's necks, cursing and making violent threats. Tonight, Ichigo was polite and kind and Rukia somehow managed to get along with him. Rukia blushed lightly, remembering the dance portion of the night.

"_Ichigo, people are staring." Rukia hissed, making to remove her arms from around Ichigo's neck. Ichigo smiled and stopped dancing, quickly grabbing Rukia's hands and keeping them in place._

"_Relax." he said, placing his hands back around her waist, pulling her dangerously close. "Let them look."_

"_I-I don't like this." Rukia blushed a bright red, feeling how close she was to the other teen. "Let me go!"_

"_Get used to it." Ichigo whispered into her ear, resting his chin on her head. Rukia felt goosebumps creep up her arms. She could smell his cologne – it was intoxicating._

'Ignore it... ignore it... ' _she thought to herself angrily. '_He's trying to tease me... two can play at that game.'

_Rukia smirked slightly and wrapped her arms even tighter around Ichigo's neck, pressing her entire body full flush against his. Ichigo's eyes widened and he was taken aback, losing balance and nearly tripping. Rukia gasped as they stumbled backwards slightly, but the two quickly regained their balance. Ichigo coughed awkwardly and loosened his grip around Rukia, allowing the brunette to have more space between the two of them. Rukia grinned – she had won. ... This time, at least._

Their entire night had consisted of small "battles" between the two of them, seeing who could make the other crack first, although by the end of the night, their score was about even. Many of their fellow students had bravely come up to them, asking if they were dating. Rukia was quick to deny it, but Ichigo merely smirked and shrugged – this annoyed Rukia. What was he trying to do to her reputation!? Not to mention his _own_. Wasn't he bothered by the fact that he would lose some popularity?

"Whatever..." Rukia sighed, forcing herself to get off of bed and change into her pajamas. As she was lifting her shirt over her head, she could faintly smell Ichigo's cologne. Rukia froze and gulped, but then shut her eyes, smelling the shirt. Just as quickly as they had shut, Rukia's eyes snapped open and she realized what she was doing. She threw the shirt over her head and dug through her dresser for her pajamas.

"What the hell was that..." Rukia murmured once she was finished changing, sliding under the sheets in her bed. "I need to stop acting weird." She sighed deeply, shutting her eyes and trying to drift off to sleep... a sleep that hopefully didn't include dreams of a certain redhead.

----------------------------------------------

"Good morning, Rukia." Byakuya said from the kitchen table as Rukia headed down the stairs drowsily, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Morning, Nii-sama." Rukia sighed, heading into the kitchen and sitting at the table, beginning to eat the breakfast Byakuya had set out for her. Oatmeal... she hated oatmeal. She couldn't say anything about it, because Byakuya insisted on healthy breakfasts every morning.

"How was your night yesterday?" Her brother asked, folding his newspaper up and neatly placing it next to his coffee. Rukia forced a spoonful of oatmeal down her throat and gulped.

"I-it was good." She said, trying to hide her wince. "I had a lot of fun."

"Everything went as planned?" Byakuya asked. "No disturbances?"

"No, Nii-sama. There was a lockdown for some reason, but then everything was fine."

"I see." Byakuya nodded, frowning slightly. "Someone entered the building?"

"Yeah, but it was no big deal. They didn't sign in or something. It was over quickly." Rukia decided it was best to keep him on the topic of the lockdown, and not of the dance itself. She didn't feel like explaining anything to him.

"Thanks for breakfast," Rukia said quickly, neatly placing her spoon onto her napkin and standing up. "I'm going to go take a shower and then meet Renji."

"You didn't finish your oatmeal." Byakuya said as Rukia rushed towards the stairs.

"Y-yeah, I'm not very hungry. Thank you, though!" She smiled and headed up the stairs quickly. Byakuya glanced up the stairs in disapproval and sighed, standing up and beginning to clear the table.

-------------------------------------------------------

"I don't know how much more I can take, Renji..." Rukia sighed heavily into her cell phone as she walked down the street of her neighborhood. She wasn't really going to meet Renji – she just wanted to get out of the house without Byakuya asking a thousand questions. "We barely talk, unless we're sitting at dinner or breakfast. We don't even act like _family_. We just... sit there! He acts like I'm one of his business clients!"

"_That sucks, Rukia."_ Renji said sympathetically. Rukia could hear his little brother yelling in the background. _"Rikichi, stop it!"_ He whispered. _"Sorry about that." _

"It's okay." Rukia said. There was a pause over the line, and then Renji cleared his throat.

"_By the way, Rukia..." _Renji started hesitantly._ "Where did you disappear to yesterday? I couldn't find you anywhere. I saw Tatsuki and we ended up leaving and going to the arcade next door."_

"Oh!" Rukia gasped. "I'm so sorry, Renji! During the lockdown, I was stuck in a classroom and then I uh... ran into a friend..." She winced. "I ended up staying with them too."

"_Oh, okay."_ Renji said after a moment. _"Well that's good. I was a little worried."_

"Thanks." Rukia smiled, although Renji couldn't see it.

"_Rikichi, don't eat that! You'll puke like you did last time." _Renji scolded and Rukia laughed.

"Speaking of puking, I'm going to go. Byakuya forced me to eat oatmeal today... I might just throw up all over my cell phone." She joked. Renji chuckled and the two quickly said goodbye, hanging up their phones. Rukia sighed heavily and continued to walk, admiring the warm morning air.

"Oatmeal, eh?"

Rukia gasped and quickly whirled around, only to see Ichigo standing behind her, smirking lightly.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" She exclaimed, taking a step back. "Are you stalking me?"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "No!" He laughed. "I take a walk here every Saturday. I just happened to be behind you while you were on your phone." He shrugged. Rukia rolled her eyes and turned around, continuing to walk. After a few moments, Ichigo caught up and walked alongside her. Rukia glared at him out of the corner of her eye, and sped up slightly. Ichigo grinned and also sped up.

"Why are you walking with me?!" Rukia growled, whirling around to face him. Ichigo smiled and shrugged.

"Why not?" he asked. Rukia glared.

"I don't want you to!"

"Here, let me buy you breakfast." Ichigo said, digging through his pockets for his wallet. "Maybe you need some pancakes instead of oatmeal. That's probably why you're always so grumpy in the morning."

"I don't want to have breakfast with you!" Rukia said. "Just leave me alone." She quickly turned around and continued to walk. '_Who does he think he is_?' Rukia thought to herself. _'Trying to buy me some..._' she stopped in her tracks. "Wait..." she said. She slowly turned around to face Ichigo, who had stopped behind her, still grinning like an idiot. "Pancakes?"

Ichigo's grin slightly disappeared and he blinked. "Yeah? So? Do you like them?"

"I've never had them..." Rukia shrugged, mumbling awkwardly. Ichigo's eyes widened and he gaped.

"Are you serious? You've never had _pancakes_!?"

Rukia shrugged slightly. "My brother thinks all that stuff is too unhealthy."

"That's retarded." Ichigo shook his head. He quickly grabbed Rukia's hand and dragged her down the sidewalk. "I'm taking you to a Denny's right now!"

"H-hey, stop it!" Rukia shrieked. "I don't want to go anywhere with you!"

"I can't believe you've never had pancakes!"

"You better let go of me right now, or I'll turn your _face_ into a pancake!"

"Oh very mature, Rukia. Very mature."

"Shut the hell up and _let me GO_!"

"We're here!" Ichigo grinned after a few moments of running. "Good thing there's one close by!"

Rukia stared up in disgust at the large yellow DENNY'S sign. "I'm probably going to die of a heart attack after eating here."

"Have you ever eaten _any_ fast food, either?" Ichigo sighed as the two walked into the small diner. Rukia shook her head. "Honestly, your brother lives under a rock. You're missing out!"

"No I'm not!" Rukia huffed as Ichigo shoved her into a booth. "At least I'm healthier than you!"

"What can I get you two lovebirds?" A woman in her forties smiled brightly, coming to Rukia and Ichigo's booth with a notepad.

"We're not lo-"

"Two orders of pancakes, please." Ichigo grinned. The woman smiled and walked away. Rukia glared at Ichigo, who looked at her innocently.

"What?" he asked.

"She thinks we're dating!" Rukia said angrily.

"So?" Ichigo smirked. "She doesn't know us anyway."

"So what!" Rukia said. "I don't want anyone to think I'm dating someone as... as... disgusting as you!"

"Disgusting?" Ichigo repeated. "I'm buying you breakfast, missy!"

"Don't call me missy!"

"Well don't call me disgusting!"

"Here you two go!" The woman came back with two large stacks of pancakes, both with hearts drawn on top with syrup. She placed it in front of the two teens. "Enjoy!" She winked and walked to the next table, taking their order.

Rukia stared down at her plate in disgust. "This is food?"

Ichigo smiled and stabbed a pancake with his fork, shoving it whole into his mouth. Rukia watched him in horror.

"You _are_ disgusting." She whispered. He glared at her.

"Shut up and eat." he said, gesturing towards her plate. Rukia gulped and grabbed her fork and knife, neatly cutting a piece out of the top pancake. She shakily lifted it to her mouth and shut her eyes, eating it and swallowing. Immediately, her eyes snapped open.

"What do you think? Ichigo asked. Rukia looked at him wide-eyed.

"It's so.. good!" She gasped, quickly cutting another piece and shoving it into her mouth.

"I told you!" Ichigo grinned. "H-hey, eat a little slower! Calm down! HEY! THAT'S MY PLATE!"

* * *

**Yeah! :) So what'd you think? I know it kinda sucked but I swear things WILL get interesting soon... huhuhu.. I'm trying a really strange/different approach with this story, I just hope you all will like it. Ooh, you know what's awesome? I'm going to Warped Tour on July 31st!! YEAAAH! How awesome is that? We The Kings is gonna be there! Hahaha if they play Check Yes Juliet, that'll be totally awesome.  
Anyway, I don't wanna spam with meaningless author notes, so I'm done now! Thanks for continuing to read my stories after such a long time, guys! I love you all so freakin much!**

**By the way, I WILL update Prayer of a Refugee soon. It's just that it's the last chapter - it's so hard! I'm very worried whether you all will hate or love the ending... but I guess we'll see, eh!? Bye!!  
**


	6. I'll Keep Tossing Rocks At Your Window

**Hey guys! I promised I'd speed up my updating, so here's the next chapter! I'm still not sure when I'll be updating my other fics, because this is the one i have the most motivation for right now so this is the one I'm focusing on :) I promise they will all be continued sooner or later, though!**

**Anyway, I'm glad you all liked the previous chapter! Thanks for not being too mad about the wait...hehe... here you go! Chapter six!**

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"_Gooooooood morning, Rukiaaa!_"

Orihime's loud, cheerful voice caused Rukia to jolt, her eyes snapping open. She was sleeping against her locker again...

"Morning, Orihime." Rukia mumbled, rubbing her eyes. Orihime smiled.

"You look tired. Didn't get enough sleep again?"

"Yeah... I left all of my homework until the last minute on Sunday so I was up all night doing it." Rukia sighed, opening her locker and grabbing her first period books. Orihime frowned as the bell rang and the two began to walk down the hall to their first class.

"You shouldn't do that, Rukia! It's not like you, anyway! Why did you do it so late?"

Rukia stayed silent for a moment, remembering the weekend that had just passed. She had spent most of the time with Ichigo. He had taken her for breakfast on Saturday, and then insisted the two spend more time together. They ended up going to the park, and then out for lunch. On Sunday, Ichigo invited Rukia to go to the movies with him and Shuuhei, and then they got a pizza.

Since when had she become so friendly with him? This had to stop...

"I uh... just forgot about it, I guess." Rukia said lamely, shrugging. Orihime nodded in understanding and the two walked into their history class, taking their seats. Rukia sighed and opened her notebook to last week's homework, sharpening her pencil and preparing for class.

Suddenly, a shriek was heard from a female student near the door as Renji whizzed in through it. "Rukia Kuchiki!" He growled. Rukia's eyes widened and her head shot up, staring at Renji who stomped towards her desk angrily. "I have to have a _biiiiig_ talk with you!"

"R-Renji, can't it wait until – _eek_!" Rukia cried out as Renji grabbed her arm and lifted her out of her chair, tugging her out of the classroom. "Renji! What the hell!" Rukia's yells were drowned out as Renji pulled her down the hallway. The rest of the class stared at the door in silent shock. What the hell just happened?

"Renji what is wrong with you?!" Rukia growled once they were outside of the main doors.

"You were with Ichigo Kurosaki on Friday night?!" Renji yelled angrily. Rukia froze.

"Who told you that?"

"The _whole school_ is talking about it!" Renji exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. "Why the hell were you with that creep?!"

"Hey, he's not that bad..." Rukia mumbled, shrugging. Renji gaped at her.

"You like him!?" He yelled. Rukia shook her head.

"N- no, I just mean that... I got to know him this weekend and stuff, and -"

"You saw him over the weekend!?!" Renji was furious.

"So what!" Rukia exclaimed. "He's not that bad, Renji!"

"He's probably using you." Renji said angrily. "Stop talking to him."

"I don't think so." Rukia sighed, annoyed with her best friend. "He wouldn't go to someone like _me_ if he were using me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Renji demanded. He sighed. "I can't believe you're defending him! This is Ichigo Kurosaki we're talking about – the _asshole_! The one you _hate_!"

"I said it already, _he's not that bad_. So what's wrong with the fact that I was with him on Friday? _Or_ on the weekend?!" Rukia frowned deeply. Renji hesitated, unsure of what to say.

"I-I don't know... you lied to me!" He said. "You told me you were with a friend! Not _him_! And the things people are saying about you... they all think you're dating him!"

"Renji, it's not a big deal. Get over it. It's just rumors. Now can I get back to class?" Rukia asked, glaring. Renji gulped and nodded.

"Fine." He said. "But we're going to talk about this later!"

"Bye, Renji." Rukia said, sighing as she walked back into the building, thinking up excuses for her teacher about her short absence.

After a dramatic and tear-jerking performance about her stomach ache, Rukia was allowed back into class. Sitting at her desk and doodling in her notebook, Rukia thought about Renji's words just moments ago.

"_He's probably using you."_

Rukia's hand froze, her pencil stopping in mid-doodle. Could Renji be right? Was Ichigo just using her for something? Maybe it was a dare or a prank with his friends... he didn't hang out with the nicest people...

Rukia felt her heart drop slightly as she realized Renji had a point. Ichigo could be scheming behind her back... he could be planning to humiliate her in some way. Rukia's grip tightened around her pencil, and she sighed heavily. Just when she thought things could be getting better...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So what was that about?" Orihime asked once class was over and she headed to Rukia's locker along with said brunette. Rukia shrugged and reached her locker, twisting in her combination.

"He's just being grumpy." Rukia said, tugging the lock off and opening the locker door. She put her books in and pulled out her math books. "Sometimes I can't stand him."

"Can't stand who?" Rukia froze as she heard that familiar voice, and her eyes widened.

"I-Ichigo!" Orihime stuttered, fumbling to quickly balance her books she nearly dropped in surprise.

"Hey, what's up?" Ichigo nodded. Orihime blushed and shrugged.

"N-nothing much! How was your weekend?" She stuttered. Ichigo shrugged.

"It was fun." He said, looking directly at Rukia. Rukia felt her cheeks burn and quickly shut the locker door, placing the lock back onto it.

"What do you want?" She asked.

"I want to talk to you." Ichigo smiled lightly. Rukia felt her heart pound slightly faster.

"I-I'm busy." She said. "Orihime and I have to... meet Renji, right?"

"No we don't!" Orihime perked up, oblivious. "We still have time before our next class, too!"

"Great." Ichigo smirked and Rukia inwardly cursed Orihime. "Come with me." He gestured towards the doors that led outside and Rukia frowned.

"Why do I have to go with you?" she asked. Ichigo sighed and grabbed her elbow, dragging her down the hall and outside.

"What the hell! Not again! Stop!" Rukia growled. What was with everyone dragging her everywhere today?!

"I'll see you at lunch, Rukia!" Orihime called down the hall cheerfully. Rukia muttered curses angrily under her breath, and Ichigo chuckled, throwing her outside the door.

"I didn't think we'd ever be able to get away from her." Ichigo sighed, closing the door and leaning against it. Rukia raised an eyebrow in curiosity and Ichigo shrugged, looking up at the sky. "She's kinda... clingy."

"Yeah, I kinda noticed." She sighed. "Now what do you want?"

Ichigo looked down at her. "Are you busy this Friday?"

Rukia gaped. "You dragged me outside to ask if I was busy this Friday?!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah! I didn't want to ask in front of Orihime!" Ichigo frowned. "She'd get upset."

"Why would she get upset?" Rukia scoffed. Ichigo sighed.

"Because I'm asking you out on a date."

Rukia froze and turned to look at Ichigo, wide-eyed. "What?"

"You heard me." He nodded. "So?"

"No!"

"Great, I'll... wh-what?" Ichigo blinked, looking at her confusedly.

"I'm not going on a date with you!" Rukia said. "We're not even friends!"

"A-after spending this whole weekend together, not to mention Friday... we're still enemies?!" Ichigo spluttered, completely shocked. Rukia crossed her arms over her chest and nodded.

"You and I have nothing to do with each other. I thought about it during class... Renji wasn't exactly happy with our whole scene on Friday, and it had me thinking that it_ is_ a bad idea, so just go back to your own popular friends and leave me alone." Rukia said. Ichigo gaped.

"Are you kidding me?"

"I'm not kidding!" Rukia glared. "Can I go now?"

"No! Not until you agree to go with me on Friday." Ichigo frowned deeply. "Why not? This weekend wasn't fun?"

"I-it was, but..." Rukia stuttered, unsure of what to say. "I still don't like you." She decided, nodding.

"Don't like me?" Ichigo repeated, eyebrows raised. Rukia nodded once more and walked past him, grabbing the door handle.

"I'm going to class now. Don't talk to me again." She opened the door, walking inside and slamming it shut, leaving Ichigo standing outside in shock.

Rukia sighed as she walked down the halls to her next class with a heavy heart. She was actually beginning to like the idiot... more than she should have. "I'm so stupid..." Rukia muttered, shifting her books from one arm to the other. "I should've known it was too good to be true."

* * *

"Rukia!"

"Leave me _alone_."

"Oi, Ru-"

"Go away, Kurosaki!"

"Now listen here you little midget. I -"

"Get out of my face!"

For the thousandth time that day, Rukia annoyedly dodged a desperate Ichigo Kurosaki in the halls. He continuously followed her throughout the day, attempting to talk to her. Rukia was trying to ignore him, but it was _impossible_ with him trying to speak to her at every corner she turned!

"Just let me talk to you!" Ichigo yelled over the crowd of students swarming the halls. Rukia glared at him and shook her head.

"Why should I?!" she retorted.

"Because! We need to talk! I don't... understand... why you're being like this!" He forced out, struggling through a large crowd of confused freshmen. Rukia sighed heavily.

"If I do talk to you, will you stop being so pathetic?" She asked, stopping in the middle of the halls, earning some comments from annoyed students who bumped into her. Ichigo stopped too and sighed in relief, nodding. Rukia shrugged and walked into an empty classroom on her left. Ichigo quickly walked through the swarm and followed her inside.

"Finally!" he exclaimed, shutting the door. "Why are you being so difficult?!"

"Why are _you_?!" Rukia growled. "Tell me the truth!"

"The truth about _what_?!" Ichigo exclaimed, bewildered.

"About the bet! Or dare... or whatever it is! Just tell me the truth!"

"I don't understand." He blinked. "What bet?"

Rukia sighed. "Don't play around. I know you're only talking to me because someone is paying you. So who is it?"

"What?!" Ichigo gasped. "I'm not! I swear I'm not!"

"So why would you even talk to me?!" Rukia exclaimed. "Not to mention ask me on a date!"

"W-well..I don't know!" Ichigo stuttered, shrugging. "I just... like you, I guess!"

"What?" Rukia gasped, eyes widening.

"Well...I don't know. When we were desk buddies, I kinda started to like you... well your personality. You know what I mean." Ichigo said quickly, trying to hide the light blush that had formed on his cheeks. "And then I met you and found out who you were and I... I dunno, I was interested. I just want to get to know you better... in person."

"O-oh..." Rukia whispered. "You really mean that?"

Ichigo smiled lightly and nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I kinda like you... and I know you don't totally hate me, so what's the problem?" He chuckled. Rukia laughed lightly, absolutely relieved there was no bet. Not to mention that he _liked _her!

"I guess there's no problem..." Rukia muttered. "As long as you're telling the truth."

"Rukia, I'm _not_ the type to lie." Ichigo smirked. "If I have a problem, I'll let you know. If I don't like you, I'll let you know. I don't do secret bets or anything of the sort, either."

"Okay, good." Rukia grinned.

"So, I'll ask again." Ichigo smiled. He remained silent for a moment, thinking something over. "Actually, I change my mind. I wanna do something different, something _better_."

"What?" Rukia blinked. Should she be worried?

"Rukia Kuchiki," Ichigo smirked, speaking slowly. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

* * *

**...Hurr : D**

**How was that?! It's just a quick chapter I wrote today when I got home from work (haha! I can't believe I can say that now! Yay for first jobs!), so I know it's not too great since I am exhausted but I was excited to write it nonetheless! I hope things aren't going to fast for Rukia and Ichigo... I apologize if they are!  
****Please review and let me know what you think, I'd love to hear your opinions!  
I love you guys! :) -hugs-**


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